Shropshire Star

Market Drayton pensioner killed wife because he couldn't cope with her dementia

A Shropshire pensioner knocked his wife unconscious before killing her with a knife because he could no longer cope with her dementia, a court was told.

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John Colin Bennett called police moments after killing his wife Beatrice of 55 years to say: "I've done a terrible thing, I have murdered my wife."

The 75-year-old was ordered to be detained in a psychiatric clinic in Shrewsbury when he appeared at Stafford Crown Court yesterday after the prosecution accepted a plea to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Bennett – usually known by his middle name Colin – admitted unlawfully killing his 75-year-old wife at the couple's home in Millfield Drive, Market Drayton, on May 20 last year. He had previously denied a charge of murder.

The court heard Bennett had struck his wife with several blows – one described as "severe" – to the head with a dumbbell he kept in the house, fracturing her skull. He then cut her throat with a kitchen knife.

Judge Simon Tonking told him: "This wasn't a premeditated killing. It was, in part, an act which you believed to be one of mercy."

Police at the house in Millfield Drive, Market Drayton

The court heard that the Bennetts, both retired teachers, were completely devoted to one another throughout their married life, but were unable to have children themselves and were a very "private couple" who relied on one another for almost everything.

They had a happy and active retirement until Mrs Bennett, known as Trixi, began to show signs of dementia in 2011. She was an enthusiastic bridge player and her condition first became noticeable whilst she was playing the card game.

A police forensics officers at the house in Millfield Drive, Market Drayton

Bennett became plagued with fears about their future, he became depressed, unable to sleep and was on sleeping tablets.

By the time of her death, she was unable to recognise him as her husband, calling him "an impostor" or "a double", the court was told.

On the morning of May 20, police received a 999 call from Bennett. Calmly, he said: "I have done a terrible thing, I have murdered my wife. She has Alzheimer's. I hit her on the head to stun her. I couldn't see her suffer any more so I put an end to it.

"She didn't recognise me as her husband. I have had two years living with this stress."

Miss Deborah Gould, prosecuting, said: "What undermined the world of this couple was age."

Mr Michael Duck QC, for Bennett, said: "That which emerges most strikingly is the depth of affection between husband and wife, the way they had supported each other as individuals for five and a half decades. On any view, a happy married life.

"He is contrite in the extreme. The pressures brought to bear on that particular day came together in a tragic few moments."

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